The city of Nashville celebrated Park(ing) Day for the third year today. More than 30 parallel parking spaces on busy downtown streets were converted into little public parks. The idea is to get citizens visualizing new possibilities in our public spaces. Creative teams from companies and non-profits — notably, a high number of architecture firms — conceived and built the public spaces. The teams didn’t have to feed the meters, as Metro donated the parking spots for the day.

Here’s a nature oasis from the Land Trust Garden Club:

Perhaps the most ambitious installation was Pfeffer and Torode Architecture’s “Tiny Tonk”. They literally fit a little honky tonk building in their space, but not an ordinary one. The interior was designed to trick the eye with a forced perspective. The floor slopes away from the door, so that the guitar player, singing in the corner, looks smaller than he his. He’s actually about the same size as the guy on the left:

Here’s the outside, where you can sort of see the sloping floor through the door. The above photo was taken from the little window that says “Look Here”:

Music City Animal Rescue was out with a kitten, some puppies, and a giant fire hydrant:

Nashville’s Civic Design Center — whose efforts brought Park(ing) Day to town — went with a pirate theme. Ron Yearwood (pictured) pointed out that it is also International Talk Like A Pirate Day. The flag above Ron’s head wished passers by a happy “Parrrrrrrr(king) Day.”

Hawkins Partners — the design firm behind the new West Riverfront Park development, currently underway — created a tiny version of the new amphitheater being built at the old thermal plant site:

Here’s the other half of the little West Riverfront Park:

Tuck Hinton brought a wobbly chair that can’t be tipped over…

…to their space that was mostly pre-fabricated at the office, very quick to set up:

Not sure what’s going on here:

Or here:

But this camp site from Kimley-Horn sure is cozy:

Children’s author Anne Armstrong created this garden gnome habitat. She’s promoting an interactive kids’ book, sort of in the same vein as Elf on the Shelf, called My Gnome on the Roam:

This gnome prototype was made with a 3-D printer. Kids are encouraged to paint their own gnomes:

The Wonderland Museum interactive art group was emphasizing action. In addition to making giant bubbles, they had personal questions written on balloons. The idea was that one stranger would pick a balloon and ask the question to another:

Can’t go wrong with checkers, made from horseshoes painted red and black: